SACHIN TENDULKAR : BORN TO WIN

Rarely has a cricket Test been so overshadowed by events centred around one man as the India-West Indies game beginning at the Eden Gardens here Wednesday. And rarely has the game’s oldest and longest format been played before a full house recently. But then, neither of the two was unexpected once the two-Test engagement got billed as the farewell series of the "god of cricket".
Sachin Tendulkar has been India’s most magnificent obsession for more than two decades now. Few people care for anything more, or anything else, when he is at the batting crease, and on song. His strokes of genius drive away the worries of a nation, bringing contentment to millions of cricket lovers.
Tendulkar means different things to different people. To the school cricketer, he is the foremost cricketing brand, a hero to be revered in every way. To an investor he is the destination where all gold rush must begin. To a corporate honcho looking to release tension, Tendulkar’s batting has often been the perfect mood elevator. To a housewife dulled by chores, he is a welcome relief.
A nation torn at times by strife, divided by issues, impeded from growing by a lack of opportunities, is bound together by Tendulkar’s genius. People forget their differences, shed aside their hatred, to celebrate when the master craftsman goes to work. No wonder when he fails, which is not often, it seems a catastrophe has befallen. When Sachin lets his bat do the talking, work in India progresses at half the usual pace - people either have one eye on the TV screen, or one ear on the radio, watching or hearing his superlative exploits.
A saga of superlative exploits it certainly has been over the years. Every conceivable cricketing record with the bat has either been broken, or within earshot of Tendulkar. No wonder the late Sir Don Bradman, cricket’s greatest soul, who seldom acclaimed cricketers, went on record to say that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.
Bradman was reflecting the common man’s sentiments, of how Tendulkar is a joie de vivre at the crease. Front-footed assaults, back-footed savagery, an array of strokes that sends the ball rushing to all corners of the field, the pure gift of timing, the grace of a dancing gazelle, the concentration of a bee seeking honey, the footwork that is the very stamp of authority, all these one finds in the Tendulkar armoury.
There are praises and praises about Tendulkar, but the best ones are those that have come from cricketing greats - Wasim Akram, Jeff Thomson, Tony Greig, to name a few. Even great bowlers like Shane Warne who have been involved in one-sided duels with him have praised him high. The most telling comment has come from Steve Waugh, someone who has refused to give an inch ever on the cricket field - "You take Don Bradman away, and he is next up, I reckon."
It thus came as no surprise that the Little Master’s formal announcement last month calling time on his dazzling 24-year Test career after the two Tests saw the eruption of a volcanic emotion across India, with cricketing authorities, corporates and politicians vying to devise ingenious ways to bid adieu to the genius.